Category: Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally a day to remember soldiers who died in the Civil War, so it’s appropriate to remember Rufus Cogswell, Mom’s great grand-uncle, who was the only person on the Dunn side of the family tree to die while serving in the military. Rufus was born in Rutland in 1829. When his parents, Stephen and Lucy (Seaver) Cogswell moved to Dublin, New Hampshire in the 1850’s, Rufus followed them, along with his sister (Mom’s great grandmother) Lydia, and Lydia’s husband Leonard Smith.

In 1859 Rufus married Elmira (Knowlton) Moore, a Dublin widow with three children. Rufus and Elmira then had a further two children of their own. On September 10th 1862, just five months after the birth of their son Milton, Rufus joined the Tenth New Hampshire Volunteers and headed off to war.